India-Forums.TV

[aryan]

CENTURION: Pakistan remain the Champions Trophy's best bet for an excitable climax. Both wildly unpredictable and exhilarating, the team is finally looking to cut out the rough edges and achieve uncharacteristic consistency. Hunger will give them the edge over an impressive New Zealand on Saturday, but the demons they need to tame will be more in the mind than outside on the field. Pakistan have a tendency to implode and cut off from the mainstream cricket calendar till recently, there is pressure to re-establish their presence as a major force. A follow-up win to the World T20 title will be impressive muscle-flexing.

Their talisman, not in deeds but in desire, remains their skipper Younis Khan, who has taken it on himself to reiterate, time and time again, how important the event is for the team. Almost everybody has rallied to the cause, their blow-hot blow-cold efforts traded for new steel.

For Pakistan, then, the event has taken a context of its own, raising morale and keeping the self-belief simmering. The short, sharp format has worked to their advantage. The spinners, Shahid Afridi and Saeed Ajmal, have outshone others in the event. Shoaib Malik looks to have shaken off the apathy which dogged him for years. There is a problem of plenty with the pacers. But as always with Pakistan, the fine print is not as consequential as the cause.

"Pakistan is the only team not to have reached the Champions Trophy final, and we need a couple of good wins as cricket is the only thing which brings us together," said Younis.

Are Pakistan, snidely, looking to avoid another Australia clash? The game on Wednesday at Centurion has clearly been the match of the tournament so far, with Australia messing it up before cold nerves came to the rescue. New Zealand, in the semis, are far less tougher mentally, though they have won this tournament before and have a solid record in ICC events.

Pakistan's main problem could be the equally unpredictable Wanderers pitch where the Kiwis have notched up two impressive wins, though a buoyant Younis scoffed at the suggestion. "They have won at Wanderers but I don't think the track matters." Bucking the trend that pacers would call the shots was Mohammad Yousuf, who said the spinners could carry Pakistan through. "With the arrival of Ajmal, our spin is very strong. That is the main reason why we won the World T20 in England and why we are favourites here."

New Zealand, meanwhile, are again down with several injury problems. Scott Styris has now been flown in as cover for Grant Elliott, who has a thumb injury but is expected to play. Jacob Oram (hamstring), Jesse Ryder (groin) and Daryl Tuffey (broken hand) have all missed out. However, Vettori put it best when he said: "I suppose there's always an expectation for a Kiwi team to make a semifinal. And then there's also an expectation for us to lose the semifinal. I want to change the script a little bit."

Will Pakistan let them?